I'm guessing the reason no one has replied is because if you have to ask this question, you are not ready to 'put $5k to work' any place. Ebook about plumbing or making cakes? A store that sells corks or adult videos?

Ebook shouldn't take near $5,000 and might take 100 years to make $2000.00 back.

How would one open and maintain a store on $5k? Would that small of an amount even open a store and last 1 month?

Once you give these answers, someone might be able to help you get on the correct road and maybe some day you will find the highway. It's usually no 3 hour drive.

By the way, did you notice how I used my numbers above? I did that for a reason.

Do not spend $5k on an ebook. You can launch on KDP for absolutely free.

I've published ~10 books on there, and only recently started paying anything. Now I typically pay $ 25 for editing, and sometimes another $ 10 for book promotion. I typically expect a new book of mine to net $200 - $300 per month

I also spent about $100-$200 to set up a website, which costs another $100-$150 to maintain each year

So basically, this is not a money driven industry. You need to find a topic that is profitable, and find a way to make yourself knock out 1000 words a day